


Protective Detail

by HiddenViolet



Series: 2020 - 12 Days of Writing [2]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Christmas Dinner, Fluff, Gen, Protective Jessica
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:33:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28084737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenViolet/pseuds/HiddenViolet
Summary: Malcolm makes friends with his protective detail at Christmas time.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Jessica Whitly
Series: 2020 - 12 Days of Writing [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2054838
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Protective Detail

“Malcolm!”

“Mother.” He turned to look at her, a smile plastered on his face.

Jessica approached him carefully and looked him up and down. “Why are there police outside the house?”

“It’s not my fault. I told them to come back after Christmas. I said I was just going to be inside with you guys having a nice quiet night.”

“Well, clearly, they didn’t. Why are they out there?”

“Oh, you know, just some whack job I put in prison got out, swore revenge, and is now trying to kill me. That sort of thing happens all the time. They are just there to make sure that no one breaks in and murders me while I am over here.”

“Malcolm! Well, I suppose there is nothing to it. Here, I’ll get the maid to pack up a little food. You take it out to them so that they have something to eat. Just because they have to stake out this place in the cold doesn’t mean that they can’t still have a lovely meal. Hopefully, they can get a little warmed up. Are they allowed to come in? If they are protecting you, you think they’d be allowed inside.”

Malcolm hesitated and then capitulated. His mother was a force of nature when it came to this sort of stuff, and he wouldn’t win. Technically they were allowed in and often even encouraged if the person they were protecting would allow it.

“Alright. I will go and tell them.”

His mother immediately looked horrified. “No, you will not! I will send someone. If someone is trying to hurt you, then you need to be around other people. It isn’t safe to be alone, and a trip in the dark to a strange car in the middle of the night would be the perfect opportunity for someone to kidnap and torture you. Then they would murder you and stick your body in the river, and then that would be the end of my beloved son.”

“Alright, mother. I’ll be waiting for you in the living room. As soon as dinner is announced, we can all sit down for a lovely family meal that includes my security detail.”

“Excellent. I assume that they aren’t allowed to drink any alcohol but could they have some of that non-alcoholic cider I had them make up for yesterday’s Christmas party? I included it to make sure that our options weren’t only alcohol. That always seems to exclude pregnant women and people who don’t drink for one reason or another.”

“Yes, that should be fine. I am sure that if it isn’t, they will tell you. On that note, I will go sit in the living room and talk with Ainsley. I’ll try and warn her away from interrogating the officers. The last thing we need is some department secret being splashed all over the news just because an officer couldn’t resist Ainsley’s silver tongue and gorgeous hair.”

Jessica smiled at him and pressed a hand to his cheek. “Go have a rest, darling. You deserve it. You work too hard and don’t sleep nearly enough.”

Malcolm smiled ruefully and looked at the ground. He pulled away and made his way towards the small intimate sitting room. He watched from the corner of his eye as Jessica instructed one of the maids to go out and invite the officers to come inside. Truthfully the last thing he wanted was to make awkward small talk with people who knew pretty much all of what he did at work. He didn’t want his sister or his mother knowing all of the intimate details, for different reasons, of course.

Despite that, he didn’t like that they had to spend Christmas watching some former FBI punk who was being threatened by a psycho instead of enjoying the night off. It didn’t really seem fair. Jessica then proceeded to the dining room to see about a few more place settings and likely talk to the staff about the addition.

The maid that had been sent out returned a few minutes later, trailed by two unsure looking officers. They glanced around at the expensive stuff like they expected it to eat them. That or leap off the walls and tables and break, leaving them as the only viable culprits. Malcolm decided to take pity on them and smiled his best approachable smile.

He imagined it came off more like a grimace, but what could you do?

“Gentleman, we figured you might like to enjoy having Christmas inside rather than sitting inside of a cold cop car eating Chinese take-out. Please, have a seat. Dinner should only be a few minutes more, and if we’re lucky, my sister will be here on time.”

They glanced at each other and sat carefully and slowly in the small sitting area Malcolm had been lurking in. For several minutes there was only the sound of the ticking clock and their breathing. It seemed that none of them knew what to talk about. Finally, Malcolm managed to think of a topic that hopefully wouldn’t be too personal.

“So, why is it you guys are working on Christmas day?”

Officer Bowery shrugged lightly. “They offer the best pay on the holidays, and I have three kids. This boost in my paycheck is so massive that it means I can afford a lot of stuff I otherwise couldn’t. We just pick a different day to celebrate our holidays. Tell the kids that it’s okay to move them around for a good cause. That their day is even more special because they are the only ones that celebrate then.”

“That’s amazing. What about you?”

Officer Trenton glanced away shyly. “I’ve got no family and not a lot of friends. Instead of staying home and being sad, I figure that I might as well get some work done and maybe help some people. It also means that someone with a family gets the holiday off to spend with their family.”

Malcolm felt a little touched but still heartbroken. At least he had his mom and sister and his MCU friends.

“Well, you might not have any close friends, but today you have us. We’re a dysfunctional, crazy lot, so you might regret it later, but here we are. Ah, there you are, Ainsley. We have a few guests who will be joining us for dinner tonight. Mom’s working on the last of the readjustments. Have a seat and introduce yourself. Officer Bowery, Officer Trenton, this is my sister Ainsley.”

She turned to them and put on her most winning smile. “It’s so lovely to meet the men who are likely keeping some homicidal maniac from murdering my brother. Although that is just an assumption. I don’t know for sure, but why else would you be spending Christmas with such a bunch of losers.”

Malcolm’s eyebrows shot up, and he looked in surprise at his sister. Even at her most cynical, she didn’t start tearing them apart until she had had a few drinks in her. It wasn’t like her to break out the vitriol so early in the evening. More than that, she was usually perfectly put together in front of any guests. The mood in the room turned awkward, and Malcolm floundered as to what he was supposed to do.

Thankfully he was saved from having to come up with an answer by his mother coming in to announce that dinner was ready to be served and to follow her to the dining room. As though they were ducklings, they all followed after her strong, confident strides. As soon as they were in the dining room, and people had begun to take their seats, Malcolm pulled his mom to the side.

“What’s up with Ainsley? She damn near bit our heads off earlier when I introduced the guys. Something happened at work that I don’t know about, or are the holidays just getting her down?”

“She’s been down about some of the stories that they’ve been running on the news. It’s apparently all doom and gloom without a single ounce of joy to be found. I’m hoping that she’s going to perk up as she spends a little time with us and get back in the Christmas spirit. We just need to be supportive and try to help her remember why it used to make her so happy.”

“Alright, I’ll do my best. Maybe having the guys here will help. They are regular people working Christmas, but they don’t have anything super terrible going on. Perhaps they will show Ainsley that just because life isn’t perfect, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still things to celebrate and enjoy.”

Jessica smiled and gestured for him to sit. The table was set with an unimaginable amount of delicious-looking food. Malcolm knew that they weren’t even going to make a tiny dent in it. They were eating early so that all of their staff members would have a chance to take whatever they wanted with them home to their families after the meal.

Then anything left over would be donated to a few local kitchens and homeless shelters for the people who needed it most. All done anonymously, of course. Even the staff were sworn to secrecy about the food that was sent home with them on this particular day.

For a few minutes, there was only the soft scraping of silverware on china and a few glances around at who would start the talking off. It turned out that Officer Bowery was going to take the time to explain just why his kids were so great.

Malcolm wasn’t really interested, but he was just so glad that someone was talking and that it wasn’t the eerie dead silence that had seemed to plague all of his formative years. The longer he spoke, the more Malcolm liked him.

He was honest, kind, and gentle. It was immediate why Gil had chosen him to make sure that no one actually succeeded in killing Malcolm. He was wonderful.

Officer Trenton was much quieter but no less of a gentle person. He talked about how he had lost his parents young, and it had pushed him to seek out police work as a career. Before he knew it, he had been there for several years and discovered that working on Christmas day was one of the best things he could do for his mental health. It helped distract himself from the fact that he didn’t have a lot of personal relationships.

It meant he got to spend time with other cops who usually liked him well enough. It wasn’t the same as having a closed intimate Christmas with people who you were close to, but it was better than drinking alone.

By the time they finished dinner, the two officers were satisfied and thanked Jessica profusely for allowing them to share the meal with her. She waved it off and said it was nothing. The three Whitly’s watched in silence as the officers made their way back out to their car to finish out the last of their shift. They only had a few hours left. Then Gil would be picking Malcolm up to spend the night with him. Ainsley had gone quiet, and Malcolm turned to look at her in question.

“I’ve spent the last few days in a terrible mood. We were doing news stories on the most horrible things this year. It seemed that every strong I caught was about people being murdered or robbed. Nasty things that happen to ordinary people. I’ve spent all this time wondering how can you carry on with all the evil in the world? So many people don’t get to spend it with their families. Some don’t have anyone to spend it with at all. This year though, I met one of each. I discovered that they can make the best of a not ideal situation.

Officer Bowery convinced his kids that moving it around for his work schedule just makes the holiday more memorable. When they go back to school, they will tell their friends about their extra special holiday. Officer Trenton just works so that he isn’t alone. He spends time with his friends at work and allows someone else to have that time to themselves. It’s just very noble and really what I wanted to hear about this year. It’s so hard with all of the evil, but at the very least, two people are dealing with it the best they can.”


End file.
